Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley.
Zeynep Gambetti is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bogaziçi University.
Leticia Sabsay is Assistant Professor in the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley.
Zeynep Gambetti is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bogaziçi University.
Leticia Sabsay is Assistant Professor in the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Judith Butler is Maxine Elliot Professor of Comparative Literature and Critical Theory at the University of California, Berkeley.
Zeynep Gambetti is Associate Professor of Political Theory in the Department of Political Science and International Relations at Bogaziçi University.
Leticia Sabsay is Assistant Professor in the Gender Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Permeable Bodies: Vulnerability, Affective Powers, Hegemony
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Published:October 2016
The chapter explores the ways in which embodied vulnerability could bolster a radical democratic perspective. Drawing on Judith Butler’s conceptualization of vulnerability and Ernesto Laclau and Chantal Mouffe’s theorization of antagonism and radical democratic practices, the chapter asks, How do discourses of vulnerability and the embodied character of political dynamics figure in relation to an account of hegemony? By addressing this question, the chapter tries to formulate an approach to the politics of vulnerability that is not only at odds with that of immanent approaches to affect and politics but might also be dissonant with those agonistic takes on the politics of vulnerability that are significantly influenced by Hannah Arendt’s model. Ultimately, the chapter considers how radical democratic practices may look when the political dimension of embodiment is taken into account.
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